Genesis 6:4

6:4 The Nephilim ¹  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ²  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ³  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁴  They were the mighty heroes ⁵  of old, the famous men. ⁶ 

Genesis 17:23

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁷  and circumcised them ⁸  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

Genesis 22:3

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. ⁹  He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out ¹⁰  for the place God had spoken to him about.

Genesis 30:35

30:35 So that day Laban ¹¹  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care ¹²  of his sons.

Genesis 34:7

34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ¹³  They ¹⁴  were offended ¹⁵  and very angry because Shechem ¹⁶  had disgraced Israel ¹⁷  by sexually assaulting ¹⁸  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ²⁰  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ²¹  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ²²  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ²³  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ²⁴  in sorrow to the grave.” ²⁵ 

Genesis 47:29

47:29 The time ²⁶  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ²⁷  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ²⁸  Do not bury me in Egypt,

[6:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).

[6:4]  ² tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.

[6:4]  ³ tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.

[6:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.

[6:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[17:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[22:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

[22:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he arose and he went.”

[30:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”

[34:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.

[34:7]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.

[34:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.

[34:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.

[38:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ³² tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

[42:38]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ³⁸ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

[42:38]  ³⁹ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

[42:38]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[47:29]  ⁴³ tn Heb “days.”

[47:29]  ⁴⁴ sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

[47:29]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”